It was Africa hot in New York

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heat, New York, postaday2016

The Northeast is experiencing a few days of intense heat and humidity, technically it isn’t called a heat wave until a certain number of days of at least 90 degrees pass, if tomorrow registers 90 then it will be official, New York has its first heat wave. We weren’t the only ones suffering from the heat, the dogs were pretty pooped by the heat, thank goodness my mother not only had an oscillating fan that we aimed at the dogs, but also a box fan that we positioned opposite the oscillating fan to create a cross breeze. It worked pretty well, after every walk, the minute we entered the house, the tired dog would search for the fan and plunk himself or herself in front of it.

The heat got to my mother and myself, ordinarily we enjoy going into the city to walk from neighborhood to neighborhood, but with temperatures in the 90’s we kept our walking to a minimum, ducking into stores to take advantage of the air conditioning so we could cool off. That was on Wednesday, the other days we stayed at home in the cool, at least I had the cool to come back to after the numerous walks I took the dogs on, I wasn’t able to walk them as a group so I walked them individually, I walked a lot.

I love my backyard!

Boston is sweltering

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Boston, heat, postaday2015

   
   
It is so hot today in Boston, I passed three babies, in their strollers, their poor little heads were damp with perspiration, babies don’t sweat, they are too cute to sweat, they perspire. I wanted to put a fan on their little necks, their adorable little arm rolls and leg rolls keep the heat, I was so happy to see them minamally dressed, they all had bottles of water. Hydration is key in heat, everyone must hydrate.

   
    
 
I walked along Commonwealth Avenue for a bit, it is one of the prettiest avenues in Boston, I passed one of the hundreds of Public Alleys of Boston, I don’t know why they intrigue me so, perhaps it’s because I can see potential stories coming out in their history? I don’t know, I think they are a cool part of Boston’s lore.

  
   
    
 
I turned left from Commonwealth Avenue and walked to Newberry Street, the street known for its chic restaurants and chic boutiques. I stumbled onto a discovery, Teuscher Chocolatier, my favorite chocolate maker in the world, I thought they were exclusive to New York, but obviously they aren’t. Hooray! Not that we buy chocolate often, it’s a once a year extravagance, but so very worth it.

 

I ducked into a Starbucks to cool down with a huge iced green tea, like I said, must hydrate. 🙂 

My small reunion with my garden

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flowers, garden, heat, plants, postaday2013, thirsty

We came back home this afternoon and I could see as soon as we pulled in the driveway that my plants were soooo thirsty. As hot as New York and Boston were, Blandford was just as hot and dry. I grabbed the hose and went all over the front garden soaking all plants and I could see their leaves perk up immediately as their roots were being cooled off and their thirst slaked. As I went to do the same in the back, I was greeted by new blooms, so as soon as everyone had their turn at being watered, I got my cell phone and went to town, taking pictures of all the beautiful colors. It is fun to take off for a few days and to come back to brand new blooms.

The heat got to me

Tags

garden, heat, heat bubble, overheating, plants, postaday2013

Up here in Blandford, we are experiencing a small heat wave, it is not going to last long, by Monday we will be back down to 70 degrees. Thank goodness because between yesterday and today, I am wiped, I feel achy and I have the worst headache. I don’t want to post about my weariness, aches and pains so I decided to take a few pictures to cheer myself up, nothing like beautiful colors to brighten your day, I say.

Quick preparation for tonight’s frost, the first of the season

Tags

frost, gardens, heat, mulch, postaday2012, wood fireplace

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Tonight the weather people announced that it was going down to 24 degrees, that is really cold for a first frost. I have been meaning to mulch and today was the last day to get it done or else it would have been too late. I feel a lot better that I did because even if my plants don’t survive the winter, it wasn’t for lack of trying. I can’t berate myself over laziness or not caring, I am really hoping that the rosemary and sage survive, having fresh herbs in the spring and summer is such a lovely thing to have, even if you don’t use it for cooking, they just smell really nice outside. I walk past and brush my fingers through a few leaves and the scent is soothing and invigorating at the same time.

Since we received our wood delivery, I took the time to load up in the garage and in the living room because there is nothing worse than when you want to start a fire when it is dark outside and you have to make numerous trips out in the cold and your wood is damp or wet. At least for tonight we are all set to cuddle in the living room with a roaring fire and t.v shows to watch.

This weekend will be warming up, I am happy about that, but even if we didn’t use the wood tonight, it won’t go bad in the living room. My hubby was the world’s best boy scout and their motto is always be prepared and when it comes to staying warm in the winter that is the best advice that you can give someone.

 

Scorching heat in Paris

Tags

France, heat, Paris, postaday2012, scorching heat, travel

Today we came full circle, as Inigo Montoya said in the “Princess Bride” you told me to go back to the beginning, so I go back to the beginning. The TGV from Lyons to Paris CDG was really nice, we found a luggage cart quickly and wheeled ourselves and our luggage directly to the Sheraton Hotel right in Terminal 2B. Our flight leaves at 6:40 so we have to be here by 4:40, I know that I’m not going to be at my best at 4:30 and neither is the baby girl so that is why the airport hotel.

The bonus of arriving a day early is that we had more than enough time to hop on the rail to get into Paris. The baby girl wanted to get two small packages of the famous Macarons of La Duree, I said why not, going into Paris is a wonderful idea, my famous last words.

The train ride only takes twenty minutes but today it was twenty minutes of crazy heavy heat. I don’t remember Paris being 40 degrees Celsius ever in the past. The train ride was brutal, we were sweating huge drops of sweat, it reminded me of Carcassonne. The train took us to the Gare du Nord, in the northern part of Paris, with the heat attacking us I flagged a taxi, there was no way that the baby girl and I could have walked to the rue Royale near the Place Concorde. We would have melted away the heat without question.

There was no one in the streets or the cafe’s, I think that everyone was hibernating. It was too hot, it was unbearable, we got to La Duree’s without a problem and upon entering the store filled with Macarons, patisseries and veinnoiseries, we immediately forgot the heat. The presentation of all the perfectly crafted desserts coupled with the air-conditioning, rendered us oblivious to our internal thermostats. The only thing that I could think of was “all those desserts look perfect, which one do I want to eat right now?” it was so pleasant in the store, we really didn’t want to leave, so with a little sadness we left, but not without goodies, I bit into my cannele as soon as we were outside, it was perfect, the little cake was moist and custard like for a cake, complete with the caramelized exterior, makes for a perfect little cake, more than one bite, but not too many bites so that you feel bad.

We tried to continue exploring Paris but it was just too hot, we made for an immediate retreat back to the Gare du Nord to hop on the return train to CDG. On the train we were sitting, not talking, just dripping these insanely large drops of sweat. There was no refuge from the heat, not until we got back to our room.

Tomorrow we’ll be traveling back home, so I am turning in right now to try to be fresh for the flight.

Summer in Normandy continues

Tags

beaches, heat, Normandy, postaday2012, Seine river, summer, sun

The countryside of Normandy is lush, green, full of hills, mountains and valleys. The forest is everywhere, surrounding the towns, it plays an important role in the background of the Normandy tapestry, the towns and cities stand out in much sharper contrast against the majesty of all those regal trees. This morning Francoise, the baby girl and I went on a small hike through the forest which led out to the top of a falaises,  a cliff overlooking the Seine river. Any view from up high tends toward the picturesque and this view was no exception. The Seine river runs through Rouen down towards Paris and past meandering through further on in France.

After a few minutes of admiration, hunger started calling and we went back home. Francoise had purchased sausage, breast of duck kebabs and chicken and pepper, onions and tomatoes kebabs, those went on the electric grill and Francoise served them with a tabbouleh salad. Dessert was homemade yogurt and fruit. Once lunch was eaten, the kitchen cleaned up and put away. We stayed inside in the cool until 6:00 when Francoise suggested that we visit Rouen plage before it closed for the season.  Rouen plage means Rouen beach; the city of Rouen, for its residents, creates an urban beach setting along the river complete with sand, playground, a rope bridge climbing structure, a scuba diving tank and two cafe’s. The dock along the river is temporarily closed for a month on the left side and the effort doesn’t go unappreciated. The children were having a blast and all the adults seemed to be enjoying their time at the beach.

I promise that as soon as I get back I am going to post every single picture that I have taken and explain them so that it all makes sense.

So far the weather here has been magnificent, Francoise has, so far, every day mentioned that we are experiencing a rarity in Normandy weather, 3 whole days of cloudless blue skies and 80 degree weather. Tomorrow will be day number 4, I haven’t a clue as to what we are doing but I don’t care. I told both Francoise and Nicholas that I am doing what I cam here for, visiting with them. The rest is all gravy on something great.